in front of the fireplace, and after four cups of hot cocoa, I was finally warm again.
My gran mumbled under her breath, as she packed blankets around me, but she didn’t ask any questions. Maybe it was the look in my eyes, but I truly didn’t have the energy to give her an explanation tonight.
Hours later and late at night… I was finally in bed, thinking of my next step. Was I pissed that Maddox played me? Yes. I was rightfully angry, frustrated and… hurt. The Maddox I knew would never purposefully be so… vindictive.
But then I realized, it was because of me.
I made him snap. I turned him into this furious, ugly beast.
Walking away from him… breaking my promises… turning my back on him when he needed me the most, I tainted our friendship.
I just wanted us to go back to the old Maddox and Lila. Team MALA – invincible and untouchable. Without all the misunderstandings, hurt and miscommunications.
My mission to go back to being Team MALA would start tomorrow. How long could Maddox stay angry at me? Another week? Another month…?
We’ll see…
Because I was fighting for him, this time.
I was just drifting off to sleep, when I heard it. The scratching sound outside my window. A thump. A louder sound. More scratching.
Was someone trying to break in? Shit! I frantically looked around my room, searching for some kind of weapon. Where the hell was my baseball bat?
A knock on my window made me pause.
I clenched the bedsheet closer to my body and eyed the window.
More scratches. Another knock, louder this time. More desperation in it.
And then…
His voice.
“Lila.”
Oh my God!
“Lila,” he called out louder.
I scrambled off the bed and rushed to my window, practically ripping away the curtains in my haste. There he was. Maddox.
Looking utterly handsome and breathtaking under the moonlight.
He balanced himself on the roof and gripped the edge of the window, staring at me with a look I have never seen before.
Maddox was here. Outside my window. Demanding for me to open up and let him in… hours after kicking me out of his house. Oh, the irony. Why were we such a mess together?
Wordlessly, I cracked the window open, and sidestepped, to let him in. Maddox stumbled inside and then straightened to his full height.
I forgot how small he made my room feel, whenever he was in here.
His presence was imposing, like a storm crashing through. Maddox towered over me, and I looked down at my bare arms. My skin was full of goosebumps.
His gaze slid over me, taking everything in. I was wearing a tank top and my sleeping shorts. This was the most skin he was seeing, since our breakup.
“What are you doing here?” I finally asked.
He cocked his head to the side. “I’m asking myself the same question.”
When a cold air gushed through, I closed the window and leaned against the sill. He inspected my room, his attention falling on a photo of us on my nightstand. Our graduation picture. The day he gave me our dreamcatcher. We were both silent for a very long time, the tension in the room growing thicker.
I wasn’t cold anymore. My skin flushed under his rapt attention, and I couldn’t look away from his face. Thick eyebrows. Blue eyes. A strong nose. Full lips. Squared jaw and what appeared to be three-days’ worth of stubble. His handsome, rugged face.
Our eyes met again.
My heart thudded.
And then I felt it… the butterflies in my stomach. The butterflies I thought I had lost before. They were never gone. Just silent. Waiting for me to finally snap out of it. Waiting for him…
He slid closer, taking one step toward me. I gripped the windowsill, so I wouldn’t do something stupid, like reach out to him, begging him to kiss me.
He leaned forward, his chest brushing lightly against mine. My nipples pebbled through my tank top, and my breasts felt tighter and heavier.
“Lila.”
I shuddered, as my name rolled off his tongue, like he was tasting molasses. He didn’t speak out my name with a taunt. No, it was a plea. My name on his tongue was a whisper, a sacred prayer.
His hands came up, and I waited, with bated breath, before he cupped my face in his much bigger palms. His thumb brushed across my jaw.
“Tell me a lie,” Maddox rasped, caging me in with his eyes. There was nowhere to run.
“I hate you.”
His eyes darkened with pain, before his lips slammed into mine, stealing my words and my breath away.